Entire campus to be torn down

by Shelby Toth

Tue, May 7th 2019 10:00 pm

After years of construction to try and slowly modernize and update the college and its facilities, the administration has decided to make a drastic change. President Elise Worthington announced on Thursday, May 2, that The College at Brockport plans on completely leveling all of the buildings to reconstruct the whole campus.

Those who follow the president on Instagram saw the video she added to her story, where she explained the new idea in detail over the course of three 30-second video clips.

“We have come to the realization that our campus has more problems than we originally thought,” Worthington explained. “After listening to the students and your many colorful poll responses, we have decided that starting fresh is the best way to go. So, beginning this summer, 2019, our new initiative ‘Revise Brockport’ will begin.”

According to Director of Planning Things Jane Paymore, creating a whole new campus and all new buildings will be a difficult task for her office.

“When they told me they were tearing down the whole campus, I laughed in their faces,” Paymore said. “Then I realized they were serious.”

Paymore spent the last week in her office almost without break. Her desk is scattered with papers detailing potential plans for new buildings. One paper had the title “Nursing Building or maybe a new cafeteria?” When asked about another piece of paper titled “Basically Mortimer but Newer and Cleaner,” Paymore laughed it off.

“Oh, I’ve just been trying to be funny with my titles,” Paymore said. “And it isn’t far from the truth about what will happen with this new campus anyway.”

Paymore explained the plan isn’t to stray too far from what Brockport has now. Instead, the college will be leveling all of the current buildings and creating “modern duplicates” in their place.

Worthington also elaborated on the updated designs, explaining how, in doing so, the college will be able to maintain “Brockport pride.”

“I’d hate to do would be to tear down the campus and leave nothing left of the old Brockport,” Worthington said. “For that reason, and also for practicality, most of the campus will still resemble the old campus that the current students, faculty and alumni know and love.”

In order to put this plan into motion, all current students will be switched to an online-only curriculum, and almost all classes will be changed and redesigned to be taken through Blackboard.

Current students are mixed on these plans. Some believe that this renovation project is long overdue, such as junior marketing major Chris Evans.

“I’m excited to see the changes personally,” Evans said. “I think the college is smart for doing this, and I don’t mind switching to online in order for it to be completed. It’s for the greater good of the future of Brockport, and I’ll still be able to get my degree.”

Other students, like sophomore chemistry major Hannah Armweak, are concerned with how certain classes will be switched over to online.

“I have labs I have to take and show I can do the work,” Armweak said. “How are they going to change those to online? And how will art students get their degrees? Or dance majors? This just sounds impossible to me; they should have stuck to the original plan.”

Buildings that have been recently reconstructed, such as the Albert W. Brown Building, Eagle Hall and Allen Administration, will be torn down as well. This will be in an effort to keep a singular “vibe” throughout the buildings and not have any outliers.

While no further plans have been released, Worthington explained that the school will be hosting an information session on Thursday, June 13 at 2 p.m. for those interested. Construction is slated to begin in July of 2019, and will more than likely carry on for several years.